How it should have been
by essence of bliss
Summary: What Rose and Dimitri's life would have been like if everything had gone as they planned it.
1. Chapter 1

My alarm clock buzzed deafeningly, pulling me out of my dreamy haze and

causing me to bolt upright in my bed. Consequently, I hit my head on the bunk above me.

Ugh, I was never gonna get used to that. Of course, I loved being able to share a room with Lissa at the Royal Court, acting as her official guardian, but the size restrictions were really getting on my nerves.

After our graduation from the academy, Lissa had made it her goal to only use compultion in dire situations. Since booking a larger room wasn't considered "dire", we were stuck with a crappy 9 by 10. I would have thought that the Dragomir princess would have ranked priority over some random Conta when it came to matters such as boarding. Unfortunately, that random Conta happened to be the daughter of one of the wealthiest royal Moroi which was all management cared about. The people in charge of that stuff were scrambling to get us someplace better though, so that was good.

"Turn it off"

Lissa moaned sleepily from above me. Remembering the alarm, I fumbled frantically in the darkness until I found the annoying thing and banged repeatedly on it until it shut up. Then I gazed blurrily at the time. 5 PM. Fabulous. One downside to being a royal court guardian was the ridiculously early exercise schedule. Sure, it wasn't _necessary _for me to get up in the afternoon to run my ass off. But Dimitri was bound to be there. So, for him, I agreed to it. Grudgingly.

It took us a while to get to the state of relative peace we were at now. The chaos that erupted after we announced our little romance still made me shutter, the worst of it coming from my mother Janine. But after the initial reactions, people had finally come to accept us. Of course Dimitri was reprimanded for his actions, there was no avoiding that. But, fortunately, he was able to get a job guarding some official at the court with me which was all I could have asked for. A gentle knocking came from the door.

"Rose, you ready yet?"

Doug, my new guarding partner, called. He was going to take over guarding duty during my run.

"Gimme a sec"

I mumbled as I stumbled out of bed. In the darkness, I quickly pulled on my black sweats and aqua tank. I hastily brushed my hair back into a quick ponytail before shoving my silver stake from under my pillow into my gym back and racing out the door. The guardian's track was not too far from the dorms, so it took no time at all to zip over. When I got to the track, a few guardians were already stretching. Of course Dimitri was already there, grinning his sweet half smile at me. God, how I loved that smile. I eagerly jogged over to him.

"Hey you" I said as he fiercely embraced me.

"Hey" he murmured into my hair. He smelled so good.

How was your evening?" he asked.

"Fine, Lissa and I went over to Christian's place and watched a movie. Would've been better with you there though. What did you do?"

He gave an exasperated sigh.

"Sat through _another_ meeting with advisor Conta. Life as a Strigoi doesn't seem as bad anymore in comparison."

"Hey!"

"The working part of my life, I mean."

We both just stood there for a minute, locked in each other's eyes. And then, suddenly, his arms encircled me tightly and he pressed his lips down on mine. He did this with enough force that I would have fallen right on my butt if he hadn't been holding me so securely. After what felt like an eternity of kissing, our lips regretfully parted and both of us were breathing deeply.

"What was that for?" I panted.

This wasn't his usual style. So gentle, so slow.

"I_ really_ missed you last night" he panted back.

We stood there for a little longer before we had to break apart and start stretching. During what little time we spent together, we had never so publicly displayed our affections beyond the occasional peck on the cheek. It was strange, not normal. The kiss was not like the other kisses we had shared. This one had an ulterior motive. I knew Dimitri, he rarely changed his ways and this wasn't him. Yeah, something was up. But I wasn't sure what. I looked at Dimitri as we finished up our stretches. He met my gaze.

"What?"

"Something's going on that you're not telling me" I accused. He looked confused.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

But a certain gleam in his eyes contradicted his claim. I gave him one more suspicious glare but decided not to push it. He'd get around to telling me eventually, and I was trying my hand at the whole patience thing.


	2. Chapter 2

We set out at a steady pace around the track. The mist of our breaths was visible in the air of the crisp October afternoon as we jogged side by side in relative silence. I decided to break it.

"So, what's the schedule for today?" I asked.

"Well, I get lunch off again so that's good."

"Me too"

"Okay, so that's one hour down. What've you got?"

"Well, Liss and Adrian are gonna have another spirit practice session and Doug volunteered to take over."

Though it wasn't necessary, Queen Tatiana had "suggested" that Adrian and Lissa continue their experiments with spirit. We all knew this was part of her pathetic efforts to push Liss and Adrian together. We also knew that said pathetic efforts were wasted. Christian and Lissa are sickeningly in love. But still, further exploring spirit _is_ in everyone's best interest. I'm just happy that Tatiana has eased up on me since Adrian and I went public.

"Great, I'll see if Phil can switch shifts" Dimitri said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

Phil is his guarding partner. After that, we pretty much stayed quiet for the rest of our jog. When we finished our laps, we kissed goodbye and I went back to the dorms to trade off with Doug. When I got there Lissa was already up, flat ironing her hair to a smooth golden perfection. She turned and smiled at me when I came in, her whole face lighting up.

"Hey Rose! How was your morning?"

Moroi used day and night terms very loosely. I plopped onto our shabby loveseat.

"Fabulous" I said sarcastically.

Her eyes widened at my tone.

"What happened?"

"Nothing really, but I think something might be up with Dimitri. He was acting all weird this morning, really romantic and stuff."

Something flashed in her eyes making me instantly suspicious.

"I'm sure it's nothing Rose" she said quickly. "Maybe the time apart is just getting to him, that's all."

Her words rung with a finality that gave a not-so-subtle close to the subject. Crap, she's in on it. Lissa hates lying. Partly because she sucks at it and partly because of her angelic conscience. For Lissa to actually lie, especially to _me_, the reason for it must be important. I took a deep breath, this patience thing was turning into a real bitch.

"Okay, you're right. So, what's today's agenda?" I asked her.

She looked relieved at the subject change.

"I've got Philosophy, Politics, History of the Moroi 101, and Moroi governmental strategies."

"Ugh" I groaned.

"Yeah, I know, sorry" she said.

"Darn your overachievingness."

"Rose, if I plan on helping rule the Moroi, in any way, I'll need to prepare myself."

She had a point, but that point did not erase the hours of agonizing boredom to come.

"Okay, I'm gonna take a shower before we head out, all right?" I said.

"Sure."

I lurched up out of my seat and walked about five feet to get to our tiny bathroom. While I showered, letting the warm water soothe my aching muscles, I tried to puzzle through the mystery. Something that would make Dimitri overly romantic. Something that would cause Lissa to actually _lie_ to me. Something that they both would know and try to keep from me. Nope, not a clue. I figured watching and waiting might help me sort it out.

I turned off the water and dried myself with a towel before slipping into my plush blue robe and blow-drying my hair. After that, I tied up my hair into a loose bun so that my neck was plainly visible. It was now adorned with two _molnija _marks as well as a star that never seemed to stop itching. I quickly dressed myself in ripped jeans and a black and gray v-neck sweater before Liss and I headed out the door and started our day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys for all of your positive feedback!!! I am currently working on a Vampire Academy fan site for all those interested. Tell me what you think! Please comment! **

As we walked from our dorm room to the college campus, we chatted casually about various non-essentials while I kept an eye on the surrounding area. There was less of a need for guardians to be so anal about protecting their charges at the royal court because of the powerful wards ringing the perimeter of the area. But after everything that had happened last year at the academy, I was a little reluctant to relax my guard. Nowhere was safe anymore.

We soon arrived at her first class and while she took her seat, I met up with the three other guardians in the back. Per request, fellow post-grad dhampir Eddie Castile was assigned Christian Ozera as his charge. It somehow made everything more perfect then it already was to have one of my closest dhampir friends working beside me so often. Being around him made me feel a small yet nearly tangible connection to my recently deceased friend Mason. I missed Mason very much, but after seeing his "ghost" last spring, all my thoughts of him are now touched with the happiness and contentment of the knowledge I now held of his fate. He truly is in a better place now.

"Hey Rose!"

Eddie said when I approached him. I suddenly remembered my worries from this morning and decided to see if he knew anything about it, surely Eddie would tell me the truth.

"Hey Eddie, have you been around Dimitri lately? He was acting kinda weird this morning." I said, carefully watching his face.

"No, not…" he trailed off, looking at first confused and then nervous.

"Yeah, I think he's got a fever or something" he mumbled, obviously trying to avoid the subject.

Holy shit! How many freaking people were in on this thing! My patience, already wearing thin, shattered.

"Eddie, you have ten seconds to tell me what's going on before I break your face" I said menacingly. He looked anxious

"I don't know what you're talking about" he said.

"Eight seconds, seven, six."

"God Rose, calm down" he sighed. "Look, let's put it this way. I'm not supposed to tell you, but it's worth waiting for."

Finally! Some kind of clue. Lissa was wrong, patience doesn't pay off, but the threat of brute force always triumphs in the end. But what was that supposed to mean?

"Worth waiting for?" I asked him.

Just then, the teacher started speaking and we all snapped to attention, watching our charges as well as monitoring the whole room.

I walked over to one of the windows. Every so often I glanced out the tinted window and gazed nostalgically at the October sunset. I missed the carefree days Lissa and I had spent together on the run from the academy; we never spent any girl time together. I sighed, remembering that if we hadn't come back to the academy, Dimitri and I would never have met, and a world without Dimitri would utterly suck. I imagined Dimitri and I running away and being together the way Lissa and I had. Where would we go? Somewhere nice and sunny by the beach where we could float in the water and soak up the sun unlike the Moroi. We could leave all the complicated politics and endless Strigoi threats behind us and live a normal life among humans. That was a selfish desire though, there were too few guardians as it was, and I could never abandon Lissa. The sound of Lissa's voice jolted me out of my hopeless daydreams.

"'The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be', Plato." She said in response to the teacher's question.

"Correct" the teacher replied.

I stayed more focused now, internally chastising myself for not staying alert, the first thing they taught us in guardian training. The rest of the class went by quickly while I carefully scanned the room, making sure I remained aware of everything. Soon enough, the class ended. While I escorted Lissa to her next class, we overheard loud voices shouting around the corner. Curious, we went to see what was going on and, sure enough, two Moroi guys were locked in a heated argument.

"Will you just let it go!? It doesn't have anything to do with you!"

"Of course it does! Soon enough they'll all be doing it then leaving us all to fend for ourselves! Are you such a fucking idiot that you don't see what's going on here?!" the second guy said.

In response to this, the first guy punched him so hard that he flew backward into the wall. I recognized the first guy as Lucas Conta, the son of the Conta advisor who was Dimitri's charge. The second guy was struggling to get up, but Lucas was still going at him. I ran in and pushed Lucas back.

"Calm down Luke, just let it go." I said.

He looked at me, eyes wide with fear, before running off down the hallway. The second guy glared at me with obvious resentment before stalking off in the opposite direction, though I was sure I'd never met him before. Everyone else kept their heads down, avoiding looking at me, as they scurried off. I turned toward Lissa who was also looking away from me. I grabbed her arm and led her into the empty ladies room.

"What the fuck is going on here!" I nearly shrieked.

She kept looking down.

"I don't know what you mean" she mumbled.

"Oh, cut the bullshit Liss! You're not fooling anyone!"

She waited a minute then let out a long sigh before finally looking up at me.

"I can't tell you, okay. So will you please stop pushing me and be patient for once? God Rose, stop overreacting."

I glared

"Overreacting?! A fight just broke out that I'm pretty sure has something to do with me, a guy I don't even know just gave me the stink eye and you're telling me nothing's wrong?"

"Rose, please be patient, it will all blow over soon." She said.

I took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.

"Okay, let's get you to Politics before you're late." I said.

Her next class went by in a blur while I guarded the class in a daze of anger. After the class was over, I escorted her to her favorite lunch spot where I traded off with Doug. Then I stalked off to where Dimitri and I had agreed to meet for lunch. I was going to get my answers, or someone was going to get hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you to everyone who has commented on my story! I really appreciate all the support. I'm curious, what do you guys think is going on? **

I approached the table that Dimitri was sitting at in a fury. I knew I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't think straight when I was this angry. But still, what was there to be angry about? Confused and frustrated sure, but angry? I had stopped expecting my emotions to make sense a long time ago. If I was angry, well, that was that. There didn't need to be a justifiable reason. He looked up at me with a loving smile when I approached him which quickly melted away as soon as he read my expression. I sat down at the small coffee table across from him and glared. He looked at me warily.

"I'm afraid to ask" he said, slightly leaning back to avoid my nearly tangible wrath.

"What the hell is going on around here?" I hissed.

"Everyone is avoiding me, Lissa is actually lying, and Eddie said whatever it is 'its worth waiting for'. I'm pretty sure you know what 'it' is so could you, please, tell me what's going on?"

He stared at me for a long time, and then he sighed, stood up and took my hand, pulling me to my feet before leading me from the table. I followed along, confused of where he was taking me as he led me throughout the court until we stopped at the gate. Dimitri spoke to one of the guardians there for a minute in a hushed tone, and then the guy made a call on his special secret guardian cell phone (which I have yet to receive).

All of my fury had evaporated by this point, replaced with an overwhelming confusion. What was he doing? I had no idea why the hell he would bring me here, I hadn't left the court in over a month. And why would we leave? I couldn't think of any rational answer. Nothing was making sense! And did this all tie in to the elusive "it" that everyone knew? I thought back to the fight I broke up a few hours ago, remembering guy number 2. He'd said "soon enough they'll all be doing it then leaving us all to fend for ourselves". Doing what? Was Dimitri taking me away permanently? No, of course not, he'd never do that, would he? Just then, a nondescript looking Honda pulled up to the gates. Dimitri motioned that I go ahead.

"How long will we be gone? I need to guard Lissa after lunch." I said.

"Everything's taken care of Rose, just get in the car and don't ask any questions" he replied.

Stunned, I slid into my seat without saying a word. Dimitri sat next to me in the driver's seat, taking my hand before speeding down the road. The court was well hidden by large confusing forests to prevent any stray humans from wandering here obliviously. Trying to maneuver the roads leading out felt like driving through a red and brown tube. I looked at Dimitri as he concentrated the road.

"Are we going back?" I asked, unable to restrain my curiosity.

"What do you mean?"

"How long will we be gone?" He sighed.

"We'll be back by tomorrow morning."

I let out a sigh of my own, in relief.

"So what is this all about?"

He waited for a minute before answering.

"I was going to wait until tonight to take you, but too many people know and you're getting suspicious." He grinned, not taking his eyes off the road.

"And when you get suspicious, there's no stopping you."

"Take me where?" He just kept grinning.

God, he was annoying.

"Fine." I said, crossing my arms in front of me.

He sensed that my resignation was real and his eyes widened.

"You're giving up?" he said incredulously.

I looked at him and nodded.

"Wow" he said "that's a first."

"What, you think I'm incapable of being patient?" I said teasingly.

He gave me a pointed look. I stuck my tongue out, and he chuckled.

"So, how has your day been so far?" I asked, realizing I'd skipped the pleasantries earlier.

"Fine, I didn't need to do much, he spent the morning entirely in his office. And yours?"

"Frustrating, anxiety filled, need I go on?" His grin dropped.

"What happened exactly?"

"Well, I asked Lissa first if she knew anything, and she obviously lied about it. Then I asked Eddie and he said 'it's worth waiting for', and then a fight broke out which I'm pretty sure connects to the mysterious _it_ in some way so"

He cut me off "A fight? What happened?" He looked sort of angry now.

"Well, advisor Conta's son Lucas got in a fight with some kid I don't know. Lucas was like 'stay out of it' and the other kid was like 'soon they'll all be doing it and leaving us' or something like that. Then Lucas punched him, and I went in to break up the fight. Only when I jumped in, they both ran away and everyone was avoiding me."

I stopped talking, noticing that Dimitri had a murderous look on his face and was letting out a stream of Russian swearwords.

"What?" I said. He just kept glaring out at the road.

"How does everyone know? I only told a few people." He finally said to himself.

"Know what?!"

He ignored me, taking a few deep breaths before pulling himself together, arranging his features into a slightly forced smile.

"It's okay; we'll deal with it later. Right now, let's just worry about you and me, alright? Okay, here we are."

He said as he slowed the car down and pulled to a stop in the driveway.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay! Blood Promise comes out today! I've been waiting for this since I finished Shadow Kiss on Christmas (and was depressed the whole day********)**

**Why Dimitri?! WHY!!!???**

**P.S. The "Tree cave" thing I mentioned in this chapter is a real place; it really is beautiful, especially at sunset. **

**P.S.S Thanks for the comments! You guys are awesome!!!**

**Sorry, I'll shut up now, enjoy! (It's a little shorter then the others, sry)**

Dimitri got out of the driver's seat and came around the side to open the door for me.

He led me through the trees with an eager determination.

The trees were so thick in these parts that I could barely see in front of me.

But when the dense forest finally ended, the sight that unfolded before me nearly took my breath away.

We were on a beach! A real beach! With soft white sand and gentle lapping waves.

Everything looked so pristine and perfect under the silver moonlight. There were no clouds, and the moon shone bright and full above us.

Dimitri hugged me from behind, wrapping his large warm arms around my waist. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Do you like it?"

"God Dimitri, could you be any more perfect?" He snickered.

"I remembered you saying that when you were in Portland you went to the beach. It sounded like you liked it very much."

I turned my head so that I could kiss him. He spun me around and kissed me back intensely, and again I felt that same ferocity that contradicted his usual behavior. Something told me a little trip to the beach was not the big secret everyone was obsessing over, there had to be something more.

We broke apart and stood there for a few more seconds before he led me down the beach, holding my hand and gazing at me adoringly.

I felt like I was in a cheesy romantic movie, taking this moonlit walk on the beach with him. But, oh, how I loved it.

There was no need for words now; just feeling his big warm hand around mine was enough to make my skin tingle with delight.

I loved just being with him, he made all of my worries and fears fade to nothing in his presence.

We walked in the comfortable silence for a long time before Dimitri stopped me and turned me around to look.

I faced a small cleared out area with trees draping over it in a dome shape to make it look like a small cave made of trees, shrubs, and sand.

It was beautiful, like in a fairytale. Dimitri had set up two towels and a small bag there.

"Oh, Dimitri" I said.

He led me to sit down on one of the towels while he rummaged through the bag and pulled out a beautiful red rose.

"A rose for my Roza" he said as he handed it to me.

I would have teased him about dropping such a cheesy line, but I was way too lost in the moment.

The view from the tree cave was beautiful.

Through it, I could fully see the beautiful water stretching out into the horizon with the glowing moon's reflection creating a silver beam of light across the dark water. I felt like a tropical princess, with my gorgeous Russian prince by my side. A romantic getaway?

Sure I loved the idea, but why would everyone obsess over it? Was there seriously more?

He was sitting next to me now, gently taking my hand and looking into my eyes intensely. He looked like he was building up his courage, odd.

"Rose, I need to ask you something" he said.

"Go ahead"

Finally! This was it! I was _finally_ going to figure out what was going on here after all of my hopeless speculation.

He cleared his throat, as if beginning a speech.

"From the moment I first realized that I loved you, I knew I could never be with you.

Yet somehow, against the odds, we found a way to be together while still doing our duties. I know that I never could be with anyone but you, so I want to make it official."

He took a deep breath

"Will you marry me?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys! My computer broke down, but now everything is up and running. I went to a Richelle Mead signing on the 31****st****, driving all the way from New York to Detroit! It was awesome, and we got free **_**molnija **_**tattoos. She even remembered me as the one who made a bunch of fake LJ accounts and voted for my name like a hundred times on her blog. My name was **_**this close**_** to being Sydney's character! What did you guys think of Blood Promise? Ok… back to the story…**

"What?!" I said, pulling away from him.

This was _not_ what I had expected.

What the heck was he talking about?

Marriage?

But guardians couldn't get married, not unless they ran off together or something like that.

Dimitri appeared shocked by my response

"I just proposed, Roza" he said

"Yeah, I got that part, but why?"

He looked hurt

"Because I love you?" he said, confused

"But, guardians can't get married. We could never manage it unless we ran away or something."

"I know that" he said. "I'm not saying we have to run away, we can just carry on as we have all along with the "time together during time-off" thing. I just want to make it official, so that no one else can have you."

My mind reeled and my heart sang.

It sounded so perfect, so amazing, that I had a hard time believing what he was saying was true.

I thought back on all of the months of infuriating restraint and impatience, finally realizing what their purpose was.

To bring me to this point, where I could have him forever.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at him.

"Yes" I whispered

"What?" he said, not hearing me.

"Yes, I will." I said, and there was nothing else to say.

He regarded me with wondrous elation as I sat up and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my lips eagerly against his.

He returned them with a hunger far greater then my own, which was saying something, and I could sense his intentions.

I struggled to unfasten my buttons without breaking the kiss, and as more clothing came off, all other thoughts left my mind as I settled into the complete bliss of the moment.

God, would the perfection of it ever change?

It was just like that first time in the cabin, no, it was so much better.

This time, all fears and doubts were erased from our minds and we were able to truly enjoy each other.

I don't know how long the passion went on, it could have been hours, or maybe just seconds.

Afterwards, we lay together gazing at the bright glowing moon.

"You are so beautiful" he whispered in my ear.

I snuggled in closer to him.

"You're not so bad looking yourself"

He snickered.

"Do you think everyone will be okay with it?" I asked him.

"Of course, were not doing anything wrong"

"I know, but when those kids who were fighting in the hallway, one kid said 'soon they'll all be doing it and leaving us to fend for ourselves' or something. Don't you think other people might think the same?"

His arms tightened around me.

"I don't care about what anyone else thinks. You are what's important, and if you are happy, so am I."

"Ok then, I'm very happy" I said

"Good"

We just lay there contentedly in the silence for a while.

I had almost fallen asleep, but something woke me with a painful jolt.

The all too familiar feeling of nausea had reverberated throughout my body


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you guys again for all your support. Sorry I haven't written in a while. I checked my traffic history, and it's amazing **

**how many people from all parts of the world have read my story. So, this is the final chapter. Love you guys!**

He looked in my eyes, and instantly recognized the expression there.

There were Strigoi.

Oh god, why now?

It seemed that every time Dimitri and I found any alone time, someone always had to break it up.

First at the cabin, and now this.

We pulled on our clothes in record time and he handed me an extra stake he had handy.

Dimitri was prepared for every situation.

He signaled for me to cover his back as we inched carefully out of the cave thing.

Despite the fact that we were about to risk our lives, I couldn't help but feel a spasm of excitement.

It was always both terrifying and exhilarating fighting off the Strigoi,

but with Dimitri, it was downright awe-inspiring.

Watching him fight was so awesome, and sort of sexy.

It was hard to believe that such a gentle and shy guy could turn so fearsome and glorious if so inclined. I stared at his hard, determined face in the moonlight. His eyes glowed with a ferocity that-

"Now" he whispered fiercely, jolting me out of my thoughts.

Damn it! I gotta stop with the distractions.

I followed quickly behind him, this time completely focused.

The nausea built up now stronger than before, almost puke inducing.

The Strigoi came at us then, and it was obvious he was new.

His movements were instinctual, a product of hunger and rage.

Dimitri grabbed him, threw him to the ground, and had a stake through his chest so fast that if I'd even blinked I would've missed it.

"Are there any more nearby?" He asked in a stern voice.

I assessed myself, realizing that the nauseous feeling had disappeared as quickly as it had came.

I shook my head, and an exasperated smile spread across his face.

"Well, that was easy" he said.

I laughed in relief.

It could have been so much worse, one slip and he would have left me forever.

I don't know if I could live if anything ever happened to him (*author note- ironic, huh?*)

He stood up beside me and took my hands.

We should head back and warn the Guardians, Strigoi shouldn't be this close to the court.

Sad to leave the magical place, I helped pack the things and walked down the beach with him to get to the old Honda.

After a few minutes of contented silence, I asked

"So, does Janine know about all of this?"

"She was the first one I told"

"So she approves?"

"Of course"

I smiled; pleased at the way my life had turned out so awesome.

I could have Dimitri _and_ Lissa.

I could finally relax and be happy.

When we got to the car, he held open the door for me as I got in.

We sped down the highway towards the court.

I couldn't wait to gush with Lissa over the wedding.

We could pick out dresses together, and of course she'd be my maid of honor.

Maybe she and Christian were next, who knows.

All I know is that this was all I could have asked for in life

**And this is how it should have been.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I've gotten requests to continue this, so I just had to write more. I started writing this months ago, but never got around to finishing until now. Thank you to ****CaRiNeSs**** for giving me the final push, as well as everyone else who's asked me to continue ****.**

We arrived back at the court, back at our reality.

After leaving the car to one of the care-takers, Dimitri and I headed to the HOSE building, (Headquarters for Organized Strigoi Elimination), to report the Strigoi.

As Dimitri and one of the guardians, Carl, discussed setting up extra posts around the perimeter, I examined the large room around me.

Though I lived at the court, I'd never gotten a chance to see this place.

This was the actual main headquarters for all guardians around the world.

Their job was to locate Strigoi groupings, execute search parties and extermination squads, and formulate the curriculum for all novices.

From the stories I'd heard, I would have expected a high-tech CIA/FBI type room worthy of its own crime show.

Instead, it looked like any ordinary business building, with a main reception desk perpendicular to row upon row of beige cubicles set up under bright fluorescent lights.

This was it? This was the famed HOSE?

Wow, what a letdown.

I'd really wanted some proof of the coolness of being a guardian; the coolness that I'd fantasized about as a novice. Instead, it reflected the true daily nature of being a guardian.

Stark, efficient, and boring.

Dimitri finished up with Carl and led me out towards the guardians barracks.

"So, um, that was the famed HOSE building," I said.

"What were you expecting?" He asked, a smile in his voice.

"I was, uh, sorta expecting the pentagon, or, like, something from _Mission Impossible_."

He just laughed, leaning down to kiss my cheek while we walked.

I then noticed where we were going.

"Dimitri, why are we going to the barracks?"

He flashed me a mischievous grin.

"Since our time on the beach was cut short, I figured we should still enjoy the rest of our day, so we're going to my place."

That brought me up short.

Whoa, his room.

Since Dimitri wasn't working as a night guard, he got to have his own room.

I'd only seen it once before, but we hadn't even spent ten minutes in there.

I don't know why, but I found it significant that he was taking me there now.

I hadn't expected to spend time like this with him until the late summer, at the very least.

The barracks were really close to the HOSE, so we got there in, like, thirty seconds.

His room was on the upper level, and I was again amused to see the long, fire station-type poles running through the hallway ground at various intervals, to be used in emergencies.

I wondered if Dimitri slid down them on his way to work, just for fun.

We reached his room and went in, and it just as bland as the last time I'd seen it.

It was painted a dull green color, with one full sized bed in the far right corner, a white fridge and adjacent mini kitchen, a brown couch and loveseat, and a little flat screen mounted on the wall parallel to the bed.

It was very much like a nice hotel room, without all the décor.

The biggest perk to the room was that it had a real, honest to God, un-tinted window, that would let in real sunshine during the day.

This was something only found in Dhampir living areas, and oh, how I wanted one.

Once Lissa graduated and joined the working world, I'd be taking the night shift off with Dimitri, and I'd be living with him in this little room with him.

Our very own place, with our very own window.

I looked around, assessing the changes I would make.

"What do you want to do now?" Dimitri asked when he realized I hadn't moved from the door.

"Oh, um, whatever you want."

"How about we just sit for awhile"

"Okay," I said, smiling calmly.

He led me over the couch, and he sat down in the corner as I lie across it and put my head in his lap.

He started stroking his fingers through my hair and softly singing in Russian.

Though he was a terrible singer, the sound of his voice was sweet and calming at the moment, and I closed my eyes and thought about my good luck.

I was engaged to the most amazing man alive.

The word engaged sounded weird, but in a very good kind of way.

We were going to be a couple in the most real sense.

Getting married meant that we would be bound together by the ties of society, the same society that seemed so desperate to tear us apart.

Two Dhampirs.

The thought made me smile, and then made me sigh sadly.

Two Dhampirs, who could never have children together, who could never have a real, genuine family.

I had already known it was unlikely that I'd ever have kids, but this made it final.

I, Rose Hathaway, would never have kids.

That tugged a little on my heart.

"Dimitri?" I whispered.

He stopped singing.

"Yes?"

"If you had a kid, what would you name him?"

He was silent for a minute.

"If I had a boy, I'd name him Ivan, after my old charge."

I remembered him telling me the story of Ivan Zeklos, his high school friend who became his charge.

I remembered the self loathing he'd felt because of Ivan's death, even though it wasn't his fault, and the consequential reluctance to get close to anyone, even me, though I'd broken through to him anyways.

"A girl, I'd name Anastasia," he said in a soft, almost regretful way.

"Ooo, like the cartoon princess?"

I could almost feel him rolling his eyes.

"Yes, Rose, like that."

He paused for another minute, and then continued stroking my hair.

"How about you?"

I thought for a minute.

"Well, if I had a boy, I'd name him Mason."

He didn't say anything in response to that.

I'd always feel responsible for Mason's death, and if I could have his name live on in some way, I'd do it.

Also, I kinda liked the name _Mason_. It sounded manly and full of purpose.

"How about a girl?" Dimitri asked.

"Lily" I said, without hesitation.

"You seem so sure, why?"

"Well, since I'm a Rose, my daughter should be a Lily, in keeping with the whole flower theme."

He gave a brief chuckle.

"Well, if you have a second daughter you'll be stuck, because I don't think there are anymore flower themed names, unless you name her something like Orchid.

I smiled brightly up at him.

"Nope, there's still Jasmine and Daisy, not to mention Rosemary and Violet and-"

He held a finger to my lips.

"Okay okay, I get the point," he said, laughing.

Then he sighed, looking out the window to see the moon casting a silvery glow on the room.

"I wish I could give you that, Roza. I wish I could that happiness. There are other ways of having children, but the world has a different plan for us, and we'd be too busy anyway."

I smiled grimly.

"Yeah, I guess so. I doubt there are many Moroi sperm banks, and adopting would be kinda pointless when they'd just be going to the academy anyways, and would barely have contact with us."

"I guess you'll have to be content with just me," he said.

"Mmm, I think I can manage _that_."

I snuggled in closer to him, and though it was still technically daytime, I felt myself slipping into sleep.

Just as the last bits of consciousness faded, I felt Dimitri gently push a cold, smooth circle on the fourth finger of my left hand.


End file.
